Latin America

Hey guys back home! Just thought I`d drop a note and let you know how i´m doing. The trip has, this far, been unbelievable. I´ve met some amazing people and see some truly extraordinary things. Learned a lot about myself and focused myself on things that I truly want and found things that I thought were important only to discover how truly inconsequential they are.

Currently I have spent a week in San Pedro de la Laguna on Lake Atitlan in the highlands on the Guatemala. This whole area was a hotbed of hippie activity in the 60s and 70s and blessedly never recovered. Here Mayan culture mixes with the best of the Western world. Time rolls by slowly inbetween these volcanos. Numerous mediation retreats dot the hills and muscle testing abounds. At least three mayan languages are spoken on the numerous villages that exist on the outskirts of the lake and a day doesn´t go by that i don´t meet someone that met to stay a week and has been here for years. San Pedro has about 13,000 permanent residents banding a pennisula that juts out into the lake. I am staying in a cute little room with Victor (he finally caught up to me from Antigua, no luck with a job yet) and two phenomenally fun Slovenians, Sasha and Jana.

The only problem is that it seems that a virus has infiltrated my camera and picture posting has become a major hassel. My memory cards continually erase and will not connect to a computer. But I continue to make progress.

Another interesting thing I have discovered in my travels is how far English has come to dominate the globe. It is truly staggering. Just last night I hung out with two Slovenians, a German, and a Mexican and even if I wasn´t there they would have communicated in English as it has become the common language. On one hand it makes me happy as every traveler communicates in my native tounge, I find it disconserting as so many amazing ways of communicate are disappearing. I am currently taking classes in Español and my skills on the latin keyboard continue to improve. Today was day three of class and I am already improving rapidly. Time will tell.

Anyway, I send my love to all of you. Hope life finds you well!

Cheers from Latin America, where every face`s a friend and every fart`s a gamble.